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Tommy Flanagan
Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001, New York City) was an American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, particularly remembered for his work with Ella Fitzgerald.Tommy Flanagan, Elegant Jazz Pianist, Is Dead at 71. NYTimes.com, By Ben Ratliff Flanagan played on a number of critically acclaimed recordings, such as John Coltrane's Giant Steps, Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, and Art Pepper's Straight Life. As a small boy he received a clarinet as a gift for Christmas but could only think about one instrument, the piano. According to Flanagan "we always had a piano in our house" and he began playing it at the age of five. The Tommy Flanagan Trio (with bassist Wilbur Little and drummer Elvin Jones) released their first album, Tommy Flanagan Trio Overseas, in 1957. As an accompanist, Flanagan worked with Ella Fitzgerald from 1963 to 1965 and 1968 to 1978. Beginning in 1975, Flanagan began once again to perform and record as a leader. He continued to work with other players, however, forming a trio with Tal Farlow and Red Mitchell, among other projects. Flanagan's style was both modest and exceptionally musical. He embodied many of the most important qualities associated with jazz: swing, harmonic sophistication, melodic invention, bluesy feel and humour. Interestingly, he appeared on a number of highly innovative albums. (His controversial solo on the fast and harmonically complex title-track of Giant Steps is a rare famous instance on record of the usually unflappable pianist being caught off-guard.)Conquering Giant Steps. GuitarPlayer.com, By Corey Christiansen Tommy Flanagan is mentioned by Japanese Author Haruki Murakami in the short story, Chance Traveller, in which he describes his experiences at a Tommy Flanagan performance. During his career, Flanagan was nominated for four Grammy Awards — two for Best Jazz Performance (Group) and two for Best Jazz Performance (Soloist). He died on November 16, 2001, of an arterial aneurysm. Discography As leader *1957: Overseas (Prestige) *1959: The Cats (New Jazz) *1959: Lonely Town (released 2000, Blue Note) With Joe Benjamin and Elvin Jones *1960: The Tommy Flanagan Trio (Moodsville) *1974: Solo Piano (Storyville) *1975: The Tommy Flanagan Tokyo Recital (Pablo) *1975: Trinity (Inner City) *1977: Eclypso (Enja) *1978: Plays the Music of Harold Arlen (Inner City) *1978: Ballads and Blues (Enja) *1978: Our Delights (Galaxy) Duo with Hank Jones *1978: More Delights (Galaxy) Duo with Hank Jones *1978: Something Borrowed, Something Blue (Galaxy) *1980: Super Session (Enja) *1981: The Magnificent (Progressive) *1981: A Little Pleasure (Reservoir) With J.R. Monterose *1982: Confirmation (Enja) *1982: Giant Steps (Enja) Trio with George Mraz and Al Foster *1982: Thelonica (Enja) *1984: Alone too Long (Denon) *1989: Jazz Poet (Timeless) *1990: Beyond the Bluebird (Timeless) *1993: Flanagan's Shenanigans (Storyville) *1993: Let's (Enja) *1993: Lady Be Good... for Ella (Groovin' High) *1997: Sunset and the Mockingbird (Blue Note) *1997: Sea Changes (Evidence) As sideman With Pepper Adams *''Encounter!'' (Prestige, 1968) With Gene Ammons *''Boss Tenor'' (Prestige, 1960) With Kenny Burrell * Jazzmen of Detroit with Pepper Adams, Paul Chambers, Kenny Clarke (Savoy, 1956) * Introducing Kenny Burrell by Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1956) * Kenny Burrell (Prestige, 1957) * Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane with John Coltrane (New Jazz, 1958) *''Weaver of Dreams'' (Columbia, 1960-61) *''Bluesy Burrell'' (Moodsville, 1962) - with Coleman Hawkins With Gary Burton *''Who is Gary Burton?'' (RCA, 1962) With Donald Byrd *''Jazz Lab'' (Columbia, 1957) - with Gigi Gryce *''Jazz Eyes'' (Regent, 1957) - with John Jenkins With Paul Chambers * Paul Chambers Quintet (Blue Note, 1957) With Arnett Cobb *''More Party Time'' (Prestige, 1960) *''Movin' Right Along'' (Prestige, 1960) With John Coltrane * Giant Steps (Atlantic, 1960) With Sonny Criss *''Sonny's Dream (Birth of the New Cool)'' (Prestige, 1968) With Miles Davis * Collectors' Items (Prestige, 1956) With Ted Dunbar * Opening Remarks (Xanadu, 1978) With Booker Ervin *''The Book Cooks'' (Bethlehem, 1960) *''The Song Book'' (Prestige, 1964) With Tal Farlow * Chromatic Palette (Concord, 1981) With Art Farmer * Art (Argo, 1960) *''Listen to Art Farmer and the Orchestra'' (Mercury, 1962) With Ella Fitzgerald *''Ella at Juan-Les-Pins'' (1964, Live, Verve) *''Ella in Hamburg'' (1965, Live, Verve) *''Sunshine of Your Love'' (1969, Live, Verve) *''Ella in Budapest, Hungary'' (1970, Live, Pablo) *''Ella à Nice'' (1971, Live, Pablo) *''Jazz at Santa Monica Civic '72'' (1972, Live, Pablo) *''Ella Loves Cole'' (1972, Pablo) *''Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall'' (1973, Live, Pablo) *''Ella in London'' (1974, Live, Pablo) *''Fine and Mellow'' (1974, Pablo) *''Montreux '75'' (1975, Live, Pablo) *''Montreux '77'' (1977, Live, Pablo) With Curtis Fuller * Jazz ...It's Magic! (Regent, 1957) *''Sliding Easy'' (United Artists, 1959) * Blues-ette (Savoy, 1959) *''South American Cookin''' (Epic, 1961) With Dizzy Gillespie *''The Dizzy Gillespie Big 7'' (Pablo, 1975) *''Carter, Gillespie Inc.'' with Benny Carter (Pablo, 1976) With Benny Golson *''Gettin' with It'' (New Jazz, 1959) *''Free'' (Argo, 1962) With Dexter Gordon *''The Panther!'' (Prestige, 1970) With Bennie Green * The Swingin'est with Gene Ammons (Vee-Jay, 1958) With Coleman Hawkins *''Coleman Hawkins All Stars'' (Swingville, 1960) - with Joe Thomas and Vic Dickenson * At Ease with Coleman Hawkins (Moodsville, 1960) * Night Hawk (Swingville, 1960) * Good Old Broadway (Moodsville, 1962) *''The Jazz Version of No Strings'' (Moodsville, 1962) *''Coleman Hawkins Plays Make Someone Happy from Do Re Mi'' (Moodsville, 1962) * Desafinado (Impulse!, 1962) * Today and Now (Impulse!, 1962) With Jimmy Heath *''Really Big!'' (Riverside, 1960) With Milt Jackson *''Bags & Flutes'' (Atlantic, 1957) *''Bean Bags'' with Coleman Hawkins (Atlantic, 1958) *''Bags' Opus'' (United Artists, 1958) *''Vibrations'' (Atlantic, 1960–61) *''Invitation'' (Riverside, 1962) * Statements (Impulse!, 1962) *''Jazz 'n' Samba'' (Impulse!, 1964) With Willis Jackson *''Bossa Nova Plus'' (Prestige, 1962) With Illinois Jacquet *''Desert Winds'' (Argo, 1964) With Elvin Jones *''Heart to Heart'' (Denon, 1980) With Philly Joe Jones *''Blues for Dracula'' (Riverside, 1958) With Thad Jones * Detroit-New York Junction (Blue Note, 1956) * The Magnificent Thad Jones (Blue Note, 1956) * Motor City Scene (United Artists, 1959) With Clifford Jordan *''A Story Tale'' (Jazzland, 1961) - with Sonny Red With Herbie Mann *''Flute Flight'' (Prestige, 1957) - with Bobby Jaspar *''Flute Soufflé'' (Prestige, 1957) - with Bobby Jaspar With Blue Mitchell * Smooth as the Wind (Riverside, 1961) With Wes Montgomery * The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery (Riverside, 1960) With Gerry Mulligan * Jeru (Columbia, 1962) With Art Pepper * Straight Life (Galaxy, 1979) With Julian Priester *''Keep Swingin''' (Riverside, 1960) With Waymon Reed *''46th and 8th'' (Artists House) With Sonny Rollins * Saxophone Colossus (Prestige, 1956) With Pee Wee Russell * Swingin' with Pee Wee (Prestige, 1960) With Louis Smith * Here Comes Louis Smith (Blue Note, 1958) With Lucky Thompson *''Lucky Thompson Plays Happy Days Are Here Again'' (Prestige, 1965) With Stanley Turrentine * ZT's Blues (Blue Note, 1961) With Frank Wess *''The Frank Wess Quartet'' (Prestige, 1960) *''Southern Comfort'' (Prestige, 1962) With Phil Woods *''Pairing Off'' (Prestige, 1956) References External links *class=artist|id=p6504|pure_url=yes}} Tommy Flanagan biography on Allmusic *Tommy Flanagan biography at BH Hopper Management *Tommy Flanagan entry at the Jazz Discography Project *Tommy Flanagan biography at All About Jazz *Tommy Flanagan entry at jazz.com Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians Category:Pianists